PACKING GROWING PLANTS FOE LONG VOYAGES. 267 



have all the strength and accumulation of this autumn's 

 growth concentrated in the graft, as far as art can do it ; and 

 this, ho douht, will help, so far, their, safe transmission. 

 Besides, the store of vegetiable matter, which will accumulate 

 in the callosity over the ring, will be ready to break forth into 

 roots as soon as the shoots are put into their natural element* 

 Moreover, the partially healing over of the wounds in this 

 way, wiU be almost ' suf&cieht to supersede the use of wax 

 altogether. 



In long voyages, the best way of sending live plants is no 

 doubt in Ward's cases (see p. 221), which, if well constructed, 

 answer perfectly, provided the plants are firmly secured in 

 their places (a precaution often neglected), and not over- 

 watered upon being finally closed; but the apparatus is 

 expensive, and very liable to accidents at sea. 



To pack otherwise live plants, not dry bulbs or mere 

 cuttings, so as to endure the consequences of suspended 

 growth, during long voyages, is an operation of considerable 

 difficulty, unless they have hard skins, and a great store of 

 moisture, like the pseudobulbs of Orchids, and the race of 

 succulents. The latter are best preserved by being packed 

 dry, and so separated that they cannot press together, and 

 ferment, which is fatal to them. 



The difficulty in question consists iu the apparent impossi- 

 bility of causing live plants to maintain their vitality for four 

 or five months, except in a growing state, because of the 

 power which the heats of the tropics possess of exciting 

 vegetation, which can only be maintaiued when plants are fully 

 exposed to light. If it were possible to retain plants in a 

 torpid or dormant state, they might then be transported to 

 any distance, enclosed in packing cases, like dead goods. 

 Now, the conditions required to preserve a plant in a torpid 

 state are these : the temperature must be low and equal, and 

 the plant must be kept in the dark. If these conditions can 

 be fulfilled, a plant may be preserved, probably, for a twelve- 

 month without growing, and certainly for six months. The 

 great difficulty lies with its natural excitability, which leads 

 it, whenever possible, to renew its growth at an appointed 



